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Monday, July 8, 2013

A Busy Week with Lots of New Sister Missionaries

Our Mission Leadership Council

This past week has been super busy. Last
Wednesday, Sister Barrientos had us come to the mission home from Wednesday to
Friday morning to help
with the new arriving missionaries. 19 sisters came, and 7 or 8 of them were
American. We got to go to the airport to greet them. The airport has improved a
lot since I last saw it. When I arrived, it looked like a barnyard, but now
it's a pretty nice building. We got to help Sister Barrientos orient the new
sisters about the culture and stuff like that, and she also just wanted us to
help make the new sisters feel welcome. It was pretty fun. It brought back
memories from when I first arrived in the mission. When I arrived, I was the
only American sister in the whole Laoag mission. And I arrived with only 7
other missionaries. We got 2 more American sisters a couple transfers later,
and a couple transfers later we got one more, and then one more came a couple
transfers after that. Then the explosion came and the new missionary age really
started kicking in. 7 more American sisters came the next transfer, and this
transfer there were 7 or 8 more. Now there are so many of us here in the
mission! And the groups of arriving missionaries have just gotten bigger and
bigger, and more and more sisters have been coming. There were more sisters who
arrived last week than elders. President Barrientos said that soon the ratio of
elders to sisters in our mission will be 50/50. It's really exciting to see the
Lord's work growing!

Last Friday, we were
trying to find the house of a potential investigator who had called out to us
on the street one day because he said he had been taught by missionaries
before, and he didn't know why they had stopped coming. So he told us where his
house was so we could visit him. He said his house is right by Brother D, who
is a less active we hadn't met before. His house was also close to the house of
Brother M, one of our less-actives whom we haven't been able to get to come to
church ever since we have been here. So we went to find his house. But when we
got there, no one answered the door. So we asked the old man next door if this
was the house of the investigator we were looking for. He said he didn't know.
So we asked if he knew the house of Brother D. He said he was Brother D. We
talked to him for a couple minutes, and he said he would go to church the
following Sunday with brother M. On our way out, we stopped and told Brother M
what Bro D had said. We didn't really think Brother M would come to church
because we've been trying and trying to get him to come to church, but he never
has. But when we went to church yesterday, they were both there! And they stayed
for all three hours and they said they felt happy after. We didn't ever find
that investigator, but I know the Lord led us to Brother D to help him and
Brother M return to church. It was a really cool experience.

Just keep living the gospel. I really know
blessings come when we trying our best to be 100% obedient to the Lord.
Sometimes it doesn't seem like our efforts to serve God are doing any good.
I've seen that here in the mission. Sometimes investigators don't keep commitments,
sometimes members don't work with us, sometimes less-actives have many excuses,
sometimes Satan works so very hard to destroy all our efforts to help God's
children. But even at those times when it seems that our efforts are doing no
good, if we just do our best to be obedient and to serve with all our might,
the blessings come. God' is so much more powerful than Satan, and He will
always win in the end. I am so thankful to be a missionary. I really know this
is God's work.

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Doctrine and Covenants 123:11-17

"It is an imperative duty that we owe to all the rising generation, and to all the pure in heart— For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it— Therefore, that we should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness, wherein we know them; and they are truly manifest from heaven— These should then be attended to with great earnestness. Let no man count them as small things; for there is much which lieth in futurity, pertaining to the saints, which depends upon these things. You know, brethren, that a very large ship is benefited very much by a very small helm in the time of a storm, by being kept workways with the wind and the waves. Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed."